232 WOODCHAT SHRIKE. 



To describe a bird so well known would be 

 superfluous. Yet the young males, in their differ- 

 ent stages of developement are so unlike the adult, 

 that many ornithologists might mistake them for a 

 separate species. 



In the first stage there is no black whatever upon 

 the front or ears, both the first being tinged with 

 light brown mixed with dirty white, while the ears 

 and the back are grey-brown. The pure white 

 scapulars of the adult are here cream colour, as are 

 also the edges of the covers and the rump-feathers. 

 The under parts are also yellowish white, with 

 distinct squamulate lines on the breast and its sides. 

 All the tail-feathers are strongly tipt with white ; 

 there are no black spots on the two outer feathers. 

 Perhaps this is the female plumage *. 



In the next change of plumage there are black 

 spots on the front, mingled with dirty white, but 

 placed behind the white band which now appears 

 close to the nostrils ; the ear-feathers and the back 

 assume a dark brown hue, mixed with black feathers; 

 the rufous is deeper on the neck, and the scapulars, 

 &c. are whiter. The tail resembles the adult ex- 

 cepting the outermost feather which has only a 

 cluster of little transverse black spots, instead of a 

 single large one ; the bill and legs are still pale, but 

 the lines on the breast are nearly obsolete. This 

 last state seems to precede the adult plumage, and 

 both are taken from Senegal specimens. 



The attempt to separate this species and L. col- 

 * See also Encyc. Method., p. 728. 



